Baby Announcement Cards

Surprise, surprise! My husband and I are having a baby! And it’s just my style to make announcement cards to hand out after we give the big news. And for those who we weren’t able to meet up with, they got a surprise in the mail.

The card was so easy and fun to make. You can make one too! And of course, this idea can be applied to various occasions.

What you need:

-Computer
-Image Editing Software
-Digital Photograph (something that shows a baby is on the way)
-Recollections blank cards/envelopes (50 pack) by Michaels
-Pastel Cardstock (light green is used in this project)
-Flower petals
-Brads
-Ribbon (or matching pattern cardstock)

I really enjoy having photographs on cards to give it a more formal look. So I had my friend take photos of my husband and me for our big announcement. This pose came out to be the best one. It’s a little mysterious (since you can’t really tell who is who in the photo), yet gets the point across.

I edit the photo in Adobe Photoshop (you can also use Adobe Elements, or any other image editing software) and added text to the photo. Once done, I uploaded the image to my favorite place, Costco Photo Center. I printed out 4×6 photos, which are 13 cents each.

So that was the digital part, now for the crafty part! I purchased a pack of 50 blank cards and envelopes (made by Michaels) for $9.99 to save time. This never goes on sale, so be sure to use your 40% or 50% off coupons! The card size is 5″ by 6.5″, so that’s perfect for placing a 4×6 photo on. You’ll have some space for borders, so cut your cardstock (I used light green on my cards) to 5″ x 6.5″. This will be the background of your card.

Now place and adhere your 4×6″ photo on the card, leaving more space below for a strip of ribbon or pattern cardstock.

Your strip of ribbon or pattern cardstock should be about 3/4″ in height and 6.5″ long. If you’re using ribbon, cut the length should be a little bit longer so you can wrap the ends behind the cardstock to adhere.

Once you got your ribbon or pattern cardstock cut, let’s add some flower petals to it before you put it on the card. Thread your flower petals into a brad and poke it through the middle of your ribbon or cardstock. Once the flower petals are on, adhere the whole strip to the bottom of the card and you’re done!

The last thing you need to do is write a little note, stamp and address your envelope, and send it off! I also like to use rubber stamps to decorate the envelope. Again, this can be applied to any special occasion card you’re working on.

Tip: Can’t decide whether to use ribbon or cardstock for the bottom strip? It depends on what you want. If you want texture, ribbon is very nice. But if you want speed and efficiency, paper cardstock is much easier to work with. Create one of each and see which you like better!